


into the woods (to journey's end)

by galfridian



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 12:04:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4665891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galfridian/pseuds/galfridian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye's fledgeling team ventures in the woods, following reports of a powered person; Kitty find something she hasn't bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	into the woods (to journey's end)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scribblemyname](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribblemyname/gifts).



"How far, Lincoln?" asks Skye, braving a half-step toward the treeline. The shadows seem to swell, and Kitty swears she hears leaves rustle overhead, although no breeze drifts from the woods.

Lincoln frowns, slapping the side of his GPS. "Quarter mile, maybe? Thought your SHIELD tech was top-of-the-line."

Skye takes the GPS from him. "It _is_ ," she insists, but as she takes another step toward an overgrown trailhead, the device blinks off-and-on.

They pause, staring at the trail ahead. Roots peek out from the dirt, traps waiting to snare a careless traveler. The trail itself slopes sharply. Only the first few feet can be seen from the road.

"Send the D.W.A.R.F.s ahead?" Kitty suggests, shivering. The autumn air has a bite to it, a warning of the winter to come, but it's the woods that cause her to shudder. 

Skye nods, kneeling to open the case that holds Fitzsimmons' drones. Kitty knows Skye has seen her share of spooky in her two years at SHIELD, but these woods seem to have unsettled her, too.

Skye programs the coordinates into the tablet. With a hum, the D.W.A.R.F.s spring from the case. Fearlessly, the zip into the treeline. "All clear," she reports after a moment, tilting the tablet so Lincoln and Kitty can see the drones' reports. "Let's go."

"Just so we're clear," Lincoln says, falling in line behind Skye. Kitty follows after him, and as they push through the overgrown hedges that block the trailhead, she tries to remember — not for the first time — what was so convincing about Coulson's pitch. "We're pursuing a fire-powered psionic into _woods_."

"Could be worse," Skye replies. "We could be following one into a Hydra lab."

"Speaking from experience?" he asks.

Skye laughs. "Simpler days. Just a little human experimentation. Here — " She passes the tablet to Lincoln. "Keep an eye on this so I can concentrate on the path." Lincoln takes the tablet, giving Skye a lazy salute. She ignores him.

The moon has finally risen over the woods. Its pale light illuminates the path ahead. The trail continues to slope, growing thinner as it disappears around a bend.

"What about you Kitty?" Lincoln says, as they press on. "Seen any Mutants like this?"

 _Only one_ , Kitty thinks. She picks up her pace, pushing Lincoln forward and her memories of John out of her head. The painful memories outweigh the good. "Not in a while," she tells him.

 

For an hour, they follow the trail as it twists and dips. The further they venture, the worse their path gets, until finally, only a thin trail of rocks remains. The drones fly ahead, occasionally returning to zip around them if they fall too far behind.

"It's quiet," Kitty observes. "Isn't it? It's too quiet." Apart from their footsteps, the gentle buzz of the D.W.A.R.F.s has been the only sound.

"These woods," Lincoln replies, "They're… off. But we're close to the coordinates now. Hopefully, we'll get our answer."

A moment later, the path takes a sharp turn, and they find themselves staring at a small clearing. Up ahead, the drones pause. Their gentle buzz becomes frantic. They fly in circles, little lights blinking rapidly, and then they surge forward and — 

They disappear.

" _What_?" says Lincoln, staring at the tablet. Kitty and Lincoln gather around him. On the tablet, there's nothing. "No data. No GPS. Even when they're off, they have GPS. How can they not have GPS?"

They stand there, staring at the tablet. Waiting. Just as Kitty considers suggesting they go, data comes pouring in. Environmental scans, electromagnetic readings, everything comes across normal. "Look at this," Skye whispers, pointing to their GPS readings. "This says they're here — _right here_. But that can't be right."

Kitty steps forward. Everything wrong with these woods — the terrible stillness, the shadows that stretch and creep — it begins here. Something catches her eye, a shimmer a foot or so above her head. She takes another step, stretching out her hand.

"Kitty, wait," Lincoln calls. "We need to wait."

She presses on. Another step, and she feels it, like static in the air. "There's something here." One more step, and then it's all around her.

Stepping through the barrier is a contradiction in sensation: Kitty can hear her own heartbeat, racing at a speed that should kill her, and yet she feels like she's moving through sludge. Every footstep is a struggle, as if she's anchored to the woods behind her, and her powers are useless.

All at once, Kitty realizes how reckless this was. She's always run headfirst into danger — a trait that served her well with the X-Men — but these woods have frightened her more than anything she's faced before, even the prospect of the cure. What if something was waiting for her on the other wise, something the drones couldn't know to warn for?

Summoning her strength — and a fair amount of the ballsy determination Bobby Drake half-envied and half-feared — Kitty pushes through.

 

She's thrust forward, out of the barrier and into a clearing which mirrors the one she left behind. She steadies herself, turning to look back. The drones find her, zipping around her head, like puppies reunited with their owner.

The barrier ripples, as if someone has pushed at it from the other side, and Kitty wonders if Skye and Lincoln have decided to follow her through. Above her, the drones beep at her, exasperated.

Behind her, there's a laugh. A laugh she hasn't heard in years.

She spins, and yes: Sitting beneath an enormous oak tree is John Allerdyce. He looks older — of course he does — but the years have been kind, and his cocky grin hasn't changed. "John, what the hell?"

"That's how you greet me, Kitty? After all these years?" He stands, crossing the clearing to her. "Not the rescue I was hoping for, I'll admit. But you'll do."

Kitty rolls her eyes. "Who'd you piss off, John?"

"You know me too well." Lincoln chooses this moment to tumble through the barrier, colliding into them. Skye emerges a moment later. "Take me to your leader, Kitty," John says. "Or don't. Just you know, get me out of here."

"You're the psionic?" Skye asks, at the same time Lincoln says, "You _know_ him?"

Kitty sighs.


End file.
